


songbird

by lemoncheerios



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: 1000 cranes, 5 Seconds Of Summer Imagines, 5SOS - Freeform, Band Fic, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Gen, Just Friends, Male Friendship, Origami, Paper Crane, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Song Lyrics, Songwriting, just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-25 05:13:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17718722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemoncheerios/pseuds/lemoncheerios
Summary: A writing session goes stale, and Luke finds something else to do.





	songbird

This writing session was never going to end, Calum mused as he watch Luke crumple another piece of paper and toss it onto the floor with the last several. He could see the frustration mounting in his face, and it had been several minutes since he’d said anything about the ideas being thrown around. That was unusual for Luke who usually couldn’t stop throwing out ideas even when they sucked or he made little sense.  
Tonight though, he was engrossed in meticulously folding sheets of paper and glancing at his phone. Each new sheet, Calum watched the same process repeat: wide determined eyes and steady hands would carefully make the first fold and then with each ensuing fold, his brow would lower and his teeth would nip further into his lip until he growled or sighed and tossed it to the floor with the others.  
Calum tuned back into the same conversation and tried to focus even though Michael and Ash were just having the same argument they’d been having for the last four hours. Their sound engineer would offer up a solution to the unbalanced rhythm and Michael would reject it, Michael would tweak the lyric to fit the imbalance and Ash would reject it. Eventually he just left. Calum sighed, unable to blame Luke for his wandering mind when he could probably recite the conversation at this point. 

From the other couch, Luke swore under his breath again as another crumpled paper hit the floor and bounced off Michael’s boot.  
“Hey,” he whined, brow furrowing at Luke as he picked up the paper ball, “Why’d you hit me? And why are you using our lyrics as ammo?”  
“I ran out of paper,” Luke scrunched his nose in distaste, “and they’re all shit anyway. This whole idea is shit. The paper’s shit too.”  
“Jesus, Luke.” Michael muttered but Luke wasn’t listening anymore, engrossed again in another sheet of paper. 

Calum watched the whole interaction, shaking his head in mock disappointment as his bandmates bickered like toddlers. When Michael’s attention returned to the stalemate with Ash, Cal kept his focus on Luke and his mysterious new affinity for ruining paper and swearing. After a few more minutes and another discarded page, he stood and crossed the few paces to the couch Luke occupied, intent again on the screen of his phone.  
“Whatcha doin’?” He asked him softly.  
Luke didn’t look up, but nudged the phone toward Calum with the heel of his hand as his fingertips worked at folding the paper as precisely as possible. The display lit up the headline of the tutorial he was following:

**How to make a paper rose**

A giggle bubbled up from Calum’s chest and finally Luke broke his trance, glowering up at Calum, who put his hands up in mock innocence.  
“No judgement here, just not what I was expecting.” he told his friend honestly, “Can I help?”  
Luke pushed the partially creased paper toward Calum without a word, eyes both pleading and challenging. Cal took it and took his time making the precise folds his hands could likely make in his sleep. Luke was a casual hobbyist but used to being good at things pretty quickly, and while his temper was the least volatile in the band, there was no faster way to ignite it than to make him feel like he was incapable of something he wanted. So Calum folded slowly, and maybe a bit clumsier than he would have if Luke wasn’t so pissed off about his attempts scattered across the studio floor. When it was done, he handed the flower to Luke but not before he saw the curve of his own handwriting on the rims of the petals.  
“Those lyrics were not shit,” he told Luke with mock hurt, and the younger boy quirked up one side of his mouth as he shrugged and turned the flower over in his hands, mesmerized. Calum could see the frustration rising in his face, along with determination. This relentless pursuit always benefitted them in the studio, but Calum knew Luke would never succeed in his origami rose attempts so long as he was trying so hard.  
As Luke picked up yet another sheet of paper with lyrics scribbled in no sort of order all over its face, Calum gingerly slipped it from his fingertips. 

“How about,” he told Luke gently, “we try another one?” 

Luke didn’t reply, eyes trained on Calum expectantly. Calum nodded and began to fold the new page into a more simple arrangement that would still be just as magnificent when it was completed. Luke watched wordlessly. 

When the folding was done, Calum set the completed shape on his palm and held it out for his friend to see. 

“A bird,” Luke said softly, eyes wide as he took in the crisp folds and graceful tuck of the paper bird’s head. 

“A crane,” Calum agreed. Luke nodded, but got up, leaving Calum and his crane alone on the couch as he rifled through the room for something. Calum watched him wander around the room, suddenly remembering they were supposed to be having a writing session. Ash and Michael had gone mostly quiet while Michael strummed out a melody on his guitar and Ash nodded pensively. Before Calum could focus on what breakthrough they might have had, Luke folded himself onto the couch again and pressed a stack of clean paper into Calum’s hands, “Show me.”

So he did, hands moving slow and clear so Luke could follow along. When it was his turn, he tried to repeat exactly what Calum had done but he was focusing too hard, hands shaking slightly with the effort. 

“Did you know they’re good luck?” Calum spoke softly, but saw the tension fall out of Luke’s face as he tipped his head to the side to indicate that he was listening while he folded. Calum continued, “Japanese lore says that if you fold a thousand of them, you can make a wish and it’ll come true.” 

The first bird was sloppy, its wings uneven and head crunching into its neck as if it’d been punched in the face. But it was enough success to lighten Luke’s mood, eyes going bright and focused as his hands steadied and he started again. 

“Gorgeous,” Calum beamed. 

 

The second crane was damn near perfect, and he knew it. He whooped in triumph as he extended the bird to Calum, who grinned at his friend’s easy joy. It was one of the purest things about the curly haired behemoth of a man who held the wonder of the world in his eyes when he felt that way. As difficult as it was to provoke Luke’s anger, his delight came swift and easy like a child. 

Calum took it, and turned it over in his hands much like Luke had done with the rose he’d made. 

“What are you two up to over there?” Ash called, seemingly just realizing that Luke and Cal had checked out of the conversation. Luke held up his crane, beaming. 

“Cool bird, mate. Is it gonna write us a song?” his tone was half mocking, but Luke just smiled as he carried the bird gingerly across the room to sit on the floor next to Michael, who was still strumming out a melody. 

Luke listened intently for a moment, and Calum marveled at the speed with which his mind could change gears. If it weren’t for the paper balls still littering the floor, or the bird he was tracing with featherlight touches as he listened, it’d be like he’d never been distracted at all. He focused until Michael finished playing, and looked at Luke expectantly. 

Luke held a hand out to Calum, “Paper?” 

Calum obliged, unsure if Luke planned to fold another bird or … really, he had no idea what Luke planned to do. He took the paper though, and instead of creasing it’s edges into a crane, he pulled the pen from his pocket, hand flying across the page with intent and focus. 

A few moments passed before he pocketed the pen and handed the paper up to Michael, who passed it to Ash. Calum read over his shoulder and together, they all nodded. 

 

Luke smile, half triumph and half arrogance. He was a brilliant musician, but he had strokes of absolute genius when it came to stubborn lyrics, “What was that about the bird again, Ash?” he quipped to the hazel-eyed boy. 

 

Ash rolled his eyes, but clapped Luke on the back affectionately as he sighed. “Well it’s still not gonna write us a song.But maybe if we fold another 999, we can write a whole album like that.”


End file.
